Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has said that cowardly assassination of Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani by the United States is a big loss to the entire region and all those are seeking peace in the world.

In an interview with Lebanon’s Al-Ahed News published on Monday, Zarif said Soleimani represented Iran’s stance in the entire region.

Soleimani and his comrades were assassinated in a U.S. drone airstrike in Baghdad on January 3.

“All eyes now are on the U.S. destructive policy in the region,” Zarif said, noting that “this must be used to strengthen the axis of resistance as per the Leader of the Revolution has said.”

Zarif also said that the blood of General Soleimani and his comrades is still alive. 

He also stressed that those who committed the crime of assassinating them will definitely be confined to the ash heap of history.

“Their martyrdom has made clear that the path of altruism and martyrdom is the right path to confront the hegemony of the global arrogance.” 

Zarif: ‘Deal of the century’ related to U.S. and Israel elections 

Zarif also said that the so-called “deal of the century” proposed by the Trump administration is related to elections in the U.S. and Israel.

“Both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Trump are in dire need of an electoral victory to remain in their posts,” the chief diplomat said. 

“Perhaps each of them needs the victory of another,” he added.

“Trump needs Netanyahu to win in the elections, and the latter needs Trump to remain in power. This is why it was a good opportunity for them to support one another to fulfill their personal ambitions on the one hand and preserve their supporters at home on the other, in addition to supporting their allies,” the senior diplomat noted.

This is only one reason behind announcing the “deal of the century” at this specific time, Zarif remarked.

He also said that the weak reaction of certain Arab leaders to the plan reveals that the U.S. had been aware that those Arab leaders, who set their destiny at the hands of the U.S. and the Zionist entity, won’t dare and never show any serious reaction had this very ridiculous agreement were announced.

Zarif says deal of the century is in fact “a mere business trade that emphasizes the occupation’s ownership.”
“It is not only unrealistic but also totally unrelated to politics,” Zarif said, adding that “Those leaders have neglected a legal and political project about the rights of an entire nation by announcing this plot, which is in fact a mere business trade that emphasizes the occupation’s ownership.”

This, Zarif went on to say, indicates that some Arab heads of state have dangerous calculations regarding their ties with the U.S. and the Zionist entity, which must be mended.

According to the Iranian foreign minister, the Arab world’s reaction was very clear. “It was full of rage and anger towards the U.S.” 

On the other hand, Zarif explained, this reaction revealed public frustration from some Arab heads of state who accepted the “deal” and agreed that the U.S. be a mediator in the Palestinian cause.

One of the biggest mistakes committed by the Arab world since 1990 and since accepting the Oslo and Madrid agreements, is agreeing that the U.S. be a mediator, Zarif said.

“The U.S. has been aligned to a certain party on the Palestinian issue and has never been a mediator in solving this cause.”

Zarif also said that the Palestinians today have fully realized the U.S. is not a mediator in the Palestinian cause and is “clearly aligned with a certain party; it is indeed aligned with it very extremely.”

NA/PA